


02; Watermelon Sugar

by rosemaryoon



Series: Fine Line [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, strawberry hannie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:14:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22275421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosemaryoon/pseuds/rosemaryoon
Summary: Seungcheol just got out of the most toxic relationship and found healing in a costumer who's obsessed with strawberries.
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan
Series: Fine Line [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1573753
Kudos: 39





	02; Watermelon Sugar

At around 1 am Seungcheol started to feel really sleepy. He was frustrated with himself at least, he should have been nicely working by now, with a normal sleeping pattern and with no aching body parts, but he is still thinking about him. Yubin had been such a big mark on his life, they could've treasured their past together in all the beautiful moments but... the more Seungcheol thought about it, the more he wanted to throw up. There was nothing to treasure about his past relationship. All the insecurities it created in him, all the times Yubin told him he wasn't enough, all the times Yubin degraded him and made him feel inferior. That didn't deserve to even be remembered.  
Yet Seungcheol was far from forgetting it. More and more hate grew in him as time passed. He knew he would never see Yubin's face again, but the thoughts and guilt around his head would hardly run away as easily as him.  
He sighed and let his forehead touch the counter. There are more things to worry about, he repeated himself, much more important and vital things; like school, his family, his decadent social life and his poorly paid job he worked 4 weekdays in. 

At around 2 am a costumer finally arrived. It was that guy Seungcheol already knew by heart; a student around his age who had a strong thing for strawberries. He would always come late at night to buy strawberries or strawberry milk, or strawberry ice cream or anything he wanted in strawberry flavor. It made Seungcheol curious; he wanted to indulge more every time the costumer stopped by the counter to pay his food. But he was so scared to ask anything to anyone, that he just let it be, he was good with watching from afar anyways.

This time the young boy decided to buy two small strawberry milk boxes and a strawberry shaped sticky note set (that Seungcheol remembered was not the first one). He paid and left right away.  
Seungcheol noticed the costumer had dyed his hair blonde, he saw it even if the guy wore a hat. He followed him with his eyes just to maybe catch a hint of where he lived, maybe they lived closer than he thought, but as he saw him cross the street, he shrugged and decided to think of something else. The something else obviously meant that he had to think of Yubin, again. There had to be a way for him to stop fearing Yubin would show up or threaten him to go back in the relationship, or that he would be waiting at his house that day when he came back from his shift. The worst thoughts though were about Yubin exposing him to his parents, or worse, harming them.   
It gave him stress and he almost never noticed when tears fell down his face just because he was scared.   
“Oh I forgot the kimb-” the customer that had just left came back and immediately noticed Seungcheol’s sad face and the few tears that dropped out of his glistening eyes “Are you…?”  
Just then Seungcheol noticed he had been crying. He felt so embarrassed that he had to bow to the costumer and say an almost unheard sorry.   
“Welcome back” Seungcheol said with a little smile.   
“Are you okay?” the costumer asked, walking closer to the counter, leaving his bag with the strawberry items on top.  
“Yeah, yes, I was just… it’s nothing, don’t worry.” Seungcheol replied wiping his face with the back of his hand.   
Jeonghan eyed him again, unsure if he should just go for what he forgot to buy or if asking an intrusive question was okay in this situation, they had seen each other so many times before, they even smiled at each other when Jeonghan paid for his items…   
“Here” Jeonghan said, deciding to give the guy one of his strawberry milk boxes would be the most appropriate “Drink this and think of pretty things!”  
Jeonghan went for the things he had forgotten and Seungcheol stared at the milk in his right hand. He wasn’t allowed to drink there, but he would totally save it for later. He almost wanted to cry more after the costumer’s gesture.   
The costumer took his last bag of the day and waved goodbye, but just as the door opened to let him out, he turned around and look at the counter.   
“My name is Jeonghan, by the way”

Meeting Jeonghan the same night his worried self was at his peak was like a sign sent from heaven. After that, Jeonghan had asked him to have lunch one day of the week if he happened to be free, he said he would and they ate kimbap at a convenience store close to their universities.   
They laughed so much about stories of their childhood that, in Seungcheol’s case, would rarely let out for any other than his closest friends to hear, but Jeonghan smiling relieved him somehow, so he wanted to keep talking just to see his face light up.   
Right there, they promised they would study together on Saturday, the idea came out while Jeonghan confessed he was terribly bad at studying and that even though it was his second year, he still had a bad time at concentrating.   
They studied at a café, because Seungcheol just loved the sound of people talking on the back while he focused on his texts, somehow it worked for Jeonghan too, but that didn’t mean they didn’t glance at each other for time to time, laughing if their eyes happened to meet.   
“Let’s go to a party this Friday” Jeonghan invited him on a Wednesday while he ate a strawberry flavored candy.   
“I don’t do these things really” Seungcheol replied.  
“Ah come on! I was invited and I don’t want to go by myself, I need to have someone by my side in case a stranger approaches me” he laughed.  
“Then don’t go, why would you go if you don’t know anyone?”  
“My sunbaes invited me” Jeonghan whined “I have to… please cheol”  
Seungcheol’s last party had been a total disaster; he had been treated horribly by Yubin in public, Seungcheol’s friends had seen it all and tried to convince him to leave it, to break it or to at least to speak back. They had been right, but Seungcheol had been too blind to notice at the time.   
He agreed to go until midnight only though, just because he wouldn’t want to let Jeonghan down when they were just starting to be friends. He did like Jeonghan, he knew it and he would allow feeling it even if the ghost of Yubin threatened to come back and haunt him every night. He did not feel guilty for liking Jeonghan, yet he did feel unsure; he had no idea if Jeonghan was into men.

For Jeonghan it was a lot easier to adapt to social environments; he could move softly through words and was so smart with jokes, that people easily liked him. Seungcheol just stayed beside him, uncomfortable but smiling every time the other guys laughed at Jeonghan’s antics.  
Somehow he found himself drinking his fifth bottle of soju for the night, he started because he thought maybe he would let himself go and have a good laugh with these people, but midst his fifth bottle he was just over thinking quietly and leaning closer to Jeonghan. He fell asleep sometime during the night. 

The sound of the tv playing a variety show he had watched probably once in his life startled him, someone yelled “And what about you?” at the other and everyone started to laugh. Seungcheol opened his eyes and remembered he didn’t have a tv back at his place. He was not at his place actually, and when Jeonghan walked in brushing his teeth, he figured it out.   
“Good morning!” Jeonghan greeted the best he could with the toothbrush still in his mouth.   
“Don’t tell me we…”  
“I had to drag you here because you never told me your floor or room number. Anyways you seemed pretty down and I didn’t want to leave you there in the cold couch, so I tucked you well in my bed”  
Such affectionate actions touched his heart and made him feel weak, as if he was about to put his walls down for Jeonghan to come in maybe a little closer. It felt dangerous, but so comfortable at the same time.   
“So what was it making you cry on the way here, Cheol?” Jeonghan asked when he came back already washed from the bathroom.   
Seungcheol considered telling him the truth, maybe even telling him things about how things were with Yubin, but doing these implied telling him he liked men, and if Jeonghan came out to be disgusted by that, it would only leave Seungcheol feeling even worse.  
“Just stress from uni…” he decided to say.   
Jeonghan seemed to accept that, judging by the little nod he gave.   
“Then uhm, who is Yubin?”

Explaining to Jeongan about Yubin and him was not easy for Seungcheol. Jeonghan had taken rather good the news about him being gay, claiming that he already knew before they started to talk. Seungcheol got quieter and less confident the more he told Jeonghan about details of the abusive relationship he had been in.   
He cried a little and Jeonghan hugged him, offered him strawberry juice and a walk to the park to talk about the weather. They both laughed, but Seungcheol agreed.

The following days he felt better than he had felt for the past year and a half. He felt so free around Jeonghan; he wanted to tell him more, to talk to him more, even if it was about things they had already told.   
One month into their growing friendship Jeonghan confessed to him that he had liked men before, but he couldn’t put a name to it.   
“You don’t need to” Seungcheol told him, trying to suppress a smile that was just a consequence of the joy he felt inside. He now had actual chances. 

On a hot June afternoon, they laid on top of Jeonghan’s mattress, the tv played a new drama none of them followed, they were both on their phones but Seungcheol laying horizontally, head over Jeonghan’s belly who sat vertically made them look up to the other every time the other laughed or though out loud.   
“It’s so tiring” Jeonghan let out putting his phone aside for a while.   
Seungcheol did the same and looked at his friend’s face.  
“What is?” he asked.   
“Not knowing if I I’m gay or not” Jeonghan said quietly “You know I never thought about it before, but I accept I have liked some boys… maybe a pair.”  
“Maybe you’re bisexual, or just curious… it’s all fine, don’t stress about it”

They stayed together at Jeonghan’s until 7pm, when Seungcheol announced he had to go to the convenience store to start his shift. Jeonghan eyed him for a long time before walking to him with a bitten strawberry on his hand.  
“Taste” he said.  
Seungcheol blushed but let Jeonghan put the strawberry between his lips. He took a small bite and felt Jeonghan’s eyes following his every movement. He licked his lips to get taste the strawberry and looked at Jeonghan eating the rest he still had on his hand. This is probably the closest to kissing him I’ll ever get, Seungcheol thought.   
“How was it?” Jeonghan asked, his childish voice now turned velvety, softly ringing in Seungcheol’s ears.   
“Good” he replied.  
“Want one more?”  
Seungcheol saw Jeonghan walk his way with one more strawberry between his fingers and nodded. Jeonghan chuckled and put the strawberry now between his lips, biting a side of it and leaving the other one for Seungcheol to bite. His eyes shimmered and Seungcheol’s first and only thought was “He’s unbelievable”   
Seungcheol bit the other end of the strawberry and his bottom lip easily touched with Jeonghan’s. The latter, not wanting to wait more, ate as much of the strawberry as he could, and once he finally touched Seungcheol’s lips fully with his own, he didn’t let go. Seungcheol was surprised, but also wouldn’t miss to enjoy the sweet kiss Jeonghan was gifting him, so he followed him and they kept going until they had erased the strawberry flavor from both their mouths. Then they separated and looked at each other with a light pink tinting both of their faces.  
“Don’t leave yet” Jeonghan whined.   
“Why?” Seungcheol asked as he let his hands wander through Jeonghan’s back and nape.  
“I’m curious”


End file.
